Author: Ben Schmidt

The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) pioneered its first rapid response anti-corruption program in The Gambia following the unexpected 2016 defeat of 22-year autocrat Yahya Jammeh to political newcomer and real estate mogul Adama Barrow. As optimism was running high in the small West African country in support of new President Barrow’s promises of… Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by a global surge in corruption, and Malaysia was no exception. The Southeast Asian country saw a rapid increase in emergency public funding, reduced oversight of government operations, and restrictions on civil liberties that led to a “perfect storm” for public misconduct. These adverse effects have been compounded by an… Read More

In the global fight against corruption, our intuition is often right. We expect countries with faltering governments, fragile institutions, and low per capita incomes to struggle to keep money from going where it shouldn’t—and generally speaking, they do. Likewise, many examples of wealthy countries with strong rule of law and government integrity institutions lead us… Read More

Staring at the dilapidated one-room building, Philip Duah knew that Project 12 was a sham. “The municipal assembly said the project – a new high school building – was at 90% status and ongoing,” said Duah, the Director of ABAK Foundation, a small non-profit that runs a primary school for low-income children and serves as… Read More

This is the first blog in a series on methods for fighting corruption at the local, national, and international level. The research is a product of the Anti-Corruption & Governance Center at CIPE and includes insights from CIPE programming around the world. A fundamental principle of anti-corruption is transparency—providing a window into the day-to-day decisions… Read More

Deploying aid to countries in crisis is a risky business. With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement in July that an estimated $750 billion in aid will be needed for Ukraine’s reconstruction, many observers are wary of corruption risks in implementation. Although Ukraine has made substantial efforts in fighting corruption since 2014—as evidenced by progress on… Read More

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